Halfhead
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4.2 • 26 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
Terrifying serial killer thriller set in the gritty Glasgow of the near future, from the bestselling author of the Logan McRae series.
There are worse things than the death penalty…
They call them halfheads: convicted criminals, surgically mutilated and lobotomized by the State, then sent out to do menial jobs in the community so everyone will know what happens when you break the law. There are no appeals, no reprieves, and no one ever comes back. Until now.
Dr Fiona Westfield, one of the most prolific serial killers Glasgow has ever seen, is waking up. Surrounded by blood and death and darkness.
William Hunter has risen through the ranks since putting Westfield away; now he’s Assistant Network Director, in charge of police actions. But a routine murder investigation is about to embroil him in an appalling conspiracy.
The vast connurb blocks on Glasgow’s deprived south side are ready to explode. Eleven years ago the VR riots killed millions – now someone wants to start them all over again. And Will is being dragged back into a past he desperately wants to forget…
Reviews
‘Slick, gruesome and brutally intelligent, this is bare knuckles
thriller-writing.’ Michael Marshall
Praise for Stuart MacBride:
‘Riveting and gruesome’ Telegraph
‘Grim, gritty and great fun’ Daily Sport
‘Stuart MacBride goes straight for the jugular with a tight, thrilling novel’ Glasgow Herald
‘The action is fercious and the pace unrelenting’ Northern Echo
About the author
Stuart MacBride, without the ‘B’, is the bestselling author of a series of crime novels featuring DS Logan McRae and set in Aberdeen. He won the International Thriller Writers best debut novel award, and has been shortlisted for the Barry Award, and twice for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. In 2007 he won the Dagger in the Library, awarded for a body of work and in 2008 he won the ITV3 Crime Thriller Award for Breakthrough Author. Halfhead, published under the name Stuart B MacBride, is his first foray into Science Fiction.
Stuart lives in north-east Scotland with his wife Fiona, cat Grendel, and a vegetable plot full of weeds.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Surgery aimed at rendering the offender harmless has replaced capital punishment in MacBride's effective if gory futuristic crime thriller set in Scotland. The procedure, which removes half the subject's head, leaves the criminal docile and capable of carrying out menial jobs. William Hunter, at 32, the youngest ever assistant section director of a super police force known as the Network, is trying to find out who killed Allan Brown, a vicious serial killer who targeted "halfheads." As he goes about his investigation, Hunter is unaware that he's being stalked by a halfhead killer he earlier brought to justice, Dr. Fiona Westfield. MacBride (Shatter the Bones) populates his universe with details that help maintain the suspension of disbelief (e.g., Hunter's college degree was in Unauthorized Data Access) and there's more than enough material, for those with strong stomachs, to justify a sequel.
Customer Reviews
Fabulous Book
I am a huge huge fan of Stuart MacBride and I adore his Logan McRae series and was a little apprehensive in reading Halfhead, but once it had me I was completely hooked! I really enjoyed the concept and found the actual "Half-heading" side entirely believable, which I admit at first I was slightly unsure about. Stuart captures a whole new genre of futuristic policing and although i found it quite predictable compared to his other books I certainly recommend it, and I would love to read more plots set in this futuristic world!
A disappointing waste of £4.99
I've read all of Macbrides books and looked forwards to this one. Regrettably I found it to be a complete waste of the £4.99 I paid for it. Such a shame from a talented writer.
Not bad
Not bad but MacBride should steer clear of sci-fi